Editing Toronto Maple Leafs (section)

=== Early years (1917–1927) ===
The National Hockey League (NHL) was formed in 1917 in [[Montreal]] by teams formerly belonging to the [[National Hockey Association]] (NHA) that had a dispute with [[Eddie Livingstone]], owner of the [[Toronto Blueshirts]]. The owners of the other four clubs—the [[Montreal Canadiens]], [[Montreal Wanderers]], [[Quebec Bulldogs]] and the [[Ottawa Senators (original)|Ottawa Senators]]—wanted to replace Livingstone, but discovered that the NHA constitution did not allow them to simply vote him out of the league.{{sfn|Shea|Wilson|2016|p=7}} Instead, they opted to create a new league, the NHL, and did not invite Livingstone to join them. They also remained voting members of the NHA, and thus had enough votes to suspend the other league's operations, effectively leaving Livingstone's league with one team.{{sfn|Holzman|Nieforth|2002|p=151}}

The NHL had decided that it would operate a four-team circuit, made up of the Canadiens, [[Montreal Maroons]], Ottawa, and one more club in either Quebec City or Toronto. Toronto's inclusion in the NHL's inaugural season was formally announced on November 26, 1917, with concerns over the Bulldogs' financial stability surfacing.{{sfn|Holzman|Nieforth|2002|p=159}} The League granted temporary franchise rights to the Arena Company, owners of the [[Arena Gardens]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Champions: The Illustrated History of Hockey's Greatest Dynasties|last=Hunter|first=Douglas|year=1997|publisher=Triumph Books|location=Chicago|isbn=1-57243-213-6 |pages=18–19}}</ref> The NHL granted the Arena responsibility of the Toronto franchise for only the inaugural season, with specific instructions to resolve the dispute with Livingstone or transfer ownership of the Toronto franchise back to the League at the end of the season.{{sfn|Holzman|Nieforth|2002|p=193}}

[[File:Toronto Arenas.jpg|thumb|Team photo of the Arenas from the [[1917–18 NHL season|1917–18 season]]. The club won its first Stanley Cup in their inaugural season.]]
The franchise did not have an official name but was informally called "the Blueshirts" or "the Torontos" by the fans and press.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Toronto Blue Shirts a.k.a. The Torontos, the NHL's First Stanley Cup Champions 1917–1918|last1=Morrison|first1=John |last2=McLatchy|first2=Doug|publisher=Hockey Information Service|year=1996|isbn=1-894014-00-6}}</ref> Although the inaugural roster was made up of players leased from the NHA's Toronto Blueshirts, including [[Harry Cameron]] and [[Reg Noble]], the Maple Leafs do not claim the Blueshirts' history as their own.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/shared-values/how-one-cantankerous-man-inspired-the-creation-of-the-nhl|title=How one cantankerous man inspired the creation of the NHL|date=December 19, 2017|access-date=February 1, 2018|work=TVO|publisher=The Ontario Educational Communications Authority|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203005651/https://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/shared-values/how-one-cantankerous-man-inspired-the-creation-of-the-nhl|archive-date=February 3, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> During the inaugural season, the club performed the first trade in NHL history, sending [[Sammy Hebert]] to the Senators, in return for cash.{{sfn|Shea|Wilson|2016|p=13–14}} Under manager [[Charlie Querrie]], and head coach [[Dick Carroll]], the team won the [[Stanley Cup]] in the inaugural [[1917–18 NHL season|1917–18 season]].{{sfn|Shea|Wilson|2016|p=10}}

For the [[1918–19 NHL season|next season]], rather than return the Blueshirts' players to Livingstone as originally promised, on October 19, 1918, the Arena Company formed the Toronto Arena Hockey Club, which was readily granted full membership in the NHL.{{sfn|Holzman|Nieforth|2002|p=197}} The Arena Company also decided that year that only NHL teams were allowed to play at the Arena Gardens—a move that effectively killed the NHA.{{sfn|Holzman|Nieforth|2002|p=199}} Livingstone sued to get his players back. Mounting legal bills from the dispute forced the Arenas to sell some of their stars, resulting in a horrendous five-win season in 1918–19. With the company facing increasing financial difficulties, and the Arenas officially eliminated from the playoffs, the NHL agreed to let the team forfeit their last two games.{{sfn|Shea|Wilson|2016|p=13–14}}<ref name=ml1920>{{cite web|title=History – 1920s|url=http://mapleleafs.ice.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=42182|publisher=National Hockey League|access-date=May 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180329074836/http://mapleleafs.ice.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=42182|archive-date=March 29, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Operations halted on February 20, 1919, with the NHL ending its season and starting the playoffs. The Arenas' .278 winning percentage that season remains the worst in franchise history. However, the [[1919 Stanley Cup Finals]] ended without a winner due to the worldwide [[Spanish flu|flu epidemic]].{{sfn|Shea|Wilson|2016|p=13–14}}

[[File:1922 Stanley Cup.png|thumb|alt=A collection of photographic head-shots of the Toronto St. Patricks team for the 1921–22 season|Team photo of the club during the [[1921–22 NHL season|1921–22 season]]. Then known as the [[Toronto St. Patricks|St. Patricks]], the club won its second Stanley Cup in 1922.]]
The legal dispute forced the Arena Company into bankruptcy, and it was forced to sell the team. On December 9, 1919, Querrie brokered the team's purchase by the owners of the St. Patricks Hockey Club (Percy and Fred Hambly),{{sfn|Ross|2015|p=115}} allowing him to maintain an ownership stake in the team.{{sfn|Shea|Wilson|2016|p=15}} The new owners renamed the team the Toronto St. Patricks (or St. Pats for short), which they used until 1927.{{sfn|Shea|Wilson|2016|p=15–16}} Changing the colours of the team from blue to green, the club won their second Stanley Cup championship in [[1921–22 NHL season|1922]].<ref name=ml1920 /> [[Babe Dye]] scored four times in the 5–1 Stanley Cup-clinching victory against the [[Vancouver Millionaires]].{{sfn|Shea|Wilson|2016|p=20}}

In 1924, the team's ownership changed again, as movie theatre impresario Nathan Nathanson and mining magnate [[Jack Bickell]] purchased the shares of the Hamblys.{{sfn|Ross|2015|p=115}} Bickell invested {{CAD|25,000}} in the St. Pats as a favour to his friend Querrie, who needed to financially reorganize his hockey team.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hhof.com/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=b197801&type=Builder&page=bio&list=ByName |title=Builders – J. P. Bickell – Biography |publisher=[[Hockey Hall of Fame]] |access-date=August 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819231611/http://www.hhof.com/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=b197801&type=Builder&page=bio&list=ByName|archive-date=August 19, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>